Deep Throat (episode)
| }} /Credits|Credits}} /Gallery|Gallery}} /Transcript|Transcript}} /Background Information|Background information}} }} |bottomimage = Robert Budahas found in home.jpg |bottomdescription = Lieutenant Colonel Robert Budahas is found by Military Policemen, cowering on the floor with an extreme skin irritation. |prev=Pilot_(The_X-Files) Pilot |next=Squeeze |prevarc=Pilot |nextarc=Fallen Angel |season = 1 }} "Deep Throat" is the second episode of the first season of The X-Files. Written by series creator Chris Carter and directed by Daniel Sackheim, it premiered on the Fox network on September 17, 1993. It was the second episode to expand on the series' Mythology arc. Synopsis When Mulder and Scully investigate a possible conspiracy in the U.S. Air Force, Mulder meets a mysterious informant who warns him to stay away from the case but, undeterred, Mulder comes closer to the truth than ever before, only to have it snatched away from him. Summary Teaser NEAR ELLENS AIR BASE, SOUTHWEST IDAHO As a unit of armed Military Police prepare to storm a house, one of the building's owners, a Mrs. Anita Budahas, arrives at the scene and is told by the commanding officer that her husband has violated security protocol and stolen an armed military vehicle. After the unit break into the house, Mrs. Budahas demands that she be allowed to speak to her husband, who is found curled up in a corner of the bathroom almost naked, shivering, and covered with a skin irritation. Act One WASHINGTON, D.C. Four months later, Mulder and Scully meet in a downtown Washington, D.C. bar at lunchtime. Scully declines his offer of a drink, due to the early time of day. As the FBI agents start to search for a seat, they are observed by one of several men seated at the bar. At a table, Mulder briefs Scully on the disappearance of Colonel Robert Budahas, the man found by the military police earlier; he is, since 1963, the sixth pilot to have gone missing from Ellens Air Base, where he had been stationed. and Mulder meet for the first time.]] In the bar's washroom, Mulder encounters the man who was watching him and Scully earlier. The man reluctantly introduces himself as a potential government informer and warns Mulder to stay away from the case, stating that the military will not tolerate an FBI investigation. Mulder tries to follow the man out of the washroom but loses track of him. When Scully then approaches Mulder and asks if he is alright, he hesitantly replies that he is fine, puzzled by his strange encounter. FBI HEADQUARTERS Scully researches Ellens Air Base in a library within FBI Headquarters, finding that the base is known for attracting UFO buffs. In his apartment, Mulder answers a call from Scully, in which she complains about her discoveries, but he notices that his telephone is apparently bugged and that someone is watching his apartment from a van parked outside. He refuses to discuss Scully's concerns with her until their flight and quickly hangs up. MARRIETTE FIELD SOUTHWEST IDAHO The agents' airplane lands on a runway in Marriette Field. As they wait for Mrs. Budahas to answer the door, the duo remark on the sound of a speeding aircraft flying overhead. The agents question Mrs. Budahas, who is severely shaken by the loss of her husband and mentions that he started acting bizarrely prior to his disappearance. She also tells Mulder that neighbor Verla McLennen's husband similarly went "kind of crazy." At Mrs. McLennan's home, the agents see that her husband is picking hairs from his own head and using them as fish bait. Mrs. McLennan tells the agents that he began behaving strangely almost two years ago and guesses that his condition was caused by stress. She is highly respectful to and thankful for the Air Force but makes a snide comment to Mrs. Budahas, apparently appalled that she has brought the FBI agents there. Outside her own home, Mrs. Budahas provides a list of phone numbers she has repeatedly tried to call. Scully suggests that Mrs. McLennan's husband is suffering from stereotypy and that the pilots may be washouts from the Aurora Project, though these ideas are refuted by Mulder, based on the caliber of the pilots, particularly Colonel Budahas. In their motel, the agents confer about their attempts to speak with a member of the Air Force. Scully mentions that she has managed to arrange an appointment with a Colonel Kissel and, even though Mulder is initially doubtful of this arrangement, he starts to search for more information about the colonel. The agents confront Kissel outside his house, but he refuses to cooperate with them and demands that they leave. After he hurries inside, the agents are met by local journalist Paul Mossinger. He remarks on the abundance of "UFO nuts" in the area, seemingly skeptical of the UFO phenomenon, and acknowledges the noise of another aircraft passing overhead at high speed. Mulder refuses to divulge how his and Scully's investigation is proceeding, but asks Mossinger to suggest someplace where Mulder might talk to one of the aforementioned UFO nuts. claims she witnessed a UFO.]] At "The Flying Saucer" diner, Mulder and Scully meet a woman who identifies the noise of yet another speedy aircraft as an F-15 Eagle and remarks on the arrogance of the pilots. With prompting from Mulder, she shows the agents a series of UFO photographs arranged behind the diner's bar, claiming that she took one herself and recalling her experience of witnessing the pictured craft. Mulder agrees to buy a print of the picture from the woman – prompting Scully to teasingly call him a "sucker" – and asks about his chances of seeing a UFO himself, at which point Scully leaves in exasperation. Outside, she is studying a map of the area, worrying that it does not include Ellens Air Base. Mulder alleges to have already known the base would not be on the map, calling her a "sucker" in return, and hands her a hand-written map he has been able to obtain that does show the base's location. OUTSIDE ELLENS AIR BASE 6:04 P.M. The agents drive off the main road to the base and head up a hill, passing a military warning sign on the way. Mulder brings the car to a stop next to a chain link perimeter fence and then wanders up a grassy embankment while Scully, seriously annoyed and choosing to remain with the car, mocks his attempt to search for UFOs. At night, Scully is asleep in the car as a low rumble begins to sound but she wakens with a start upon hearing the vehicle's rear window shatter. Mulder hurriedly returns to the car, eager to show her something. Act Two 9:13 P.M. watch two strange lights in the sky.]] The FBI agents watch two strange lights dance above the base, theorizing about what they are. After the lights seemingly rise out of sight and collide, the agents notice an approaching helicopter and two teenagers, a girl and boy, who are fleeing the base. The agents chase down the two teens; all four hide under a tree until the helicopter flies away. 5:02 A.M. In a roadside diner, the teenagers, Emil and Zoe, eat while being questioned about the base. They recount their experiences at the base and Emil mentions an area called the Yellow Base that is supposedly a massive hangar surrounded by land-mines. Unbeknownst to the four, a car pulls up outside and the driver reports their presence to his superior, using obscure lingo. Emil continues demonstrating the way in which the aircraft he has seen at the base flies and jokingly reveals his thoughts about the nature of the craft. When Mulder shows him the picture he bought earlier, Emil claims it looks exactly like the craft he has seen. After Mulder drops Emil and Zoe at a residential property, humorously emulating the teens' slang, Scully expresses doubt about their claims. Mulder tries to convince her that there is a connection between the crafts at Ellens Air Base and the UFO that reportedly crashed in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. Ellens Air Base is supposedly one of six sites where parts from the wreckage were shipped, and Mulder believes the military is flying planes built with UFO technology. Scully attempts to poke holes in Mulder's theory and argues that it does not adequately explain the disappearance of Colonel Budahas, which Mulder ultimately agrees with. Back at their motel, Scully races to Mulder's room and relays news that Colonel Budahas was returned to his home the previous night. claims the man who says he's her husband is not really him.]] The agents drive back to the Budahas residence, where they find Mrs. Budahas upset and in shock. She insists that a man sitting inside, who looks identical to her husband, is not actually him. Act Three After Mulder manages to slightly calm Mrs. Budahas, he questions the man who she claims looks identical to Colonel Budahas but is not him. Mrs. Budahas confirms that almost each and every answer that the man gives is correct but, just as the man starts to get frustrated with the interrogation, Mulder asks him a question regarding a flight maneuver that he struggles with, claiming he cannot remember the answer. He steps towards Mrs. Budahas but she backs away, sobbing. After Mulder hurriedly leaves, Scully rushes out after him, demanding his input. Mulder admits that he thinks Colonel Budahas' brain has been rewired, using some kind of selective memory drain. Scully argues that the means to do that do not exist and suggests amnesia as a reasonable explanation. Mulder sarcastically says the technology powering the aircraft that the agents apparently saw the previous night doesn't exist either. Mulder and Scully continue to argue while driving along a highway, but are cut off and boxed in by two cars, out of which step several Men in Black. The men proceed to search the agents' car and confiscate all their evidence. When Mulder questions their motives, he is assaulted by one of the men. The agents are warned to leave or risk the consequences of breaching national security. In her motel room, Scully ends a phone conversation with a contact named Gail, finding that her attempt to track down one of the cars has been fruitless. Mulder suggests that the helicopter that chased Emil and Zoe out of the base was really after himself and Scully, and that the military not only knew the agents were coming but also "returned" Colonel Budahas as a decoy. Mulder then divulges to Scully that he was approached by the cautioning, secretive man in Washington, D.C. and that his own phone was being tapped, which he takes as proof of a huge conspiracy to cover up the presence of a UFO in the area. He and Scully passionately debate the consequences of such a secret. Scully voices her eagerness to leave, especially now that Colonel Budahas has been returned, which technically ends their investigation. Mulder makes a futile attempt to appeal to Scully's curiosity, before acquiescing to her wishes. Scully is soon alerted by the noise of their car, however, and hurries outside to see Mulder driving away. Emil and Zoe lead Mulder to a hole in the fence that surrounds Ellens Air Base. He is surprised when the teens decline to follow him, explaining that they've only ever gone in at night. They describe the area inside the perimeter to him and Mulder wanders off as Zoe shouts a warning not to pass the edge of some tall weeds that she knows about. Suddenly realizing they have forgotten to remind Mulder about the land mines, Emil calls out, but Mulder is too far away. Mulder later nears the edge of the tall weeds, where he waits until nightfall. After he walks onto a runway, a triangular craft speeds towards him, instantly slowing to hover above him, and then shines a dazzlingly bright, white light down on him before darting away. Mulder then notices two military vehicles pulling onto the runway and speeding toward him; after a short chase, he is captured by army personnel, who strap him to a gurney and then load him into one of their transports before driving away. Act Four Still struggling inside one of the military vehicles, Mulder is injected with something and held down until he apparently loses consciousness. 6:30 A.M. Scully, meanwhile, struggles to make a phone call to Washington, D.C. Leaving her gun in her room, she goes to the motel manager and asks to use his phone, which also doesn't work. The Manager tells her that one of the many things people commonly blame on the nearby military interference is the fact that phones are pretty undependable in the area. The military vehicle carrying Mulder enters a hangar where Mulder's gurney is offloaded from the vehicle. As it is wheeled through the building he, in his drugged state, sees men working on a large, spaceship-shaped object that is obscured behind a large sheet of plastic. and Zoe watch, Scully holds Paul Mossinger captive.]] Scully is surprised to see Paul Mossinger stepping out of her room. He claims to have been looking for her and saw that her door was open. After Scully hears a burst of static from a walkie-talkie in his car, she locks herself inside it. In the glove compartment, she finds a gun and an ID badge indicating that he works at Ellens Air Base. Although Mossinger breaks into the car and tries to grab Scully, she manages to pull his own gun on him. Emil and Zoe arrive and Emil tells Scully that they took Mulder to the base; Zoe adds that they waited all night for him. Scully demands that Mossinger find out where Mulder is, threatening to go to the national newspapers otherwise. In a medical facility, a light is shone into Mulder's eye, into which is then dropped a driblet of a silver solution. Scully and Mossinger arrive at the base's entrance, where Scully exchanges Mossinger for Mulder. Mossinger walks towards the base as Mulder staggers away from it. As Mossinger passes Mulder, he tells the agents that everything they have seen in the area is equal to the protection that the military gives it and that the agents are the ones who have "acted inappropriately." As they drive away, Scully asks Mulder if he's okay, but he can only respond with confusion as to how he got there. The agents visit the Budahas residence but Mrs. Budahas, noticeably discomforted, claims her husband is fine and quickly thanks the agents for their concern before shutting the door in their faces. Mulder is convinced the military have visited Mrs. Budahas and threatened her into keeping silent. Scully, eager to be done with the place, irritably tells him they know nothing more than when they arrived, planning to write that in her field report. FBI HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON, D.C. ONE WEEK LATER In an office at FBI Headquarters, Scully types up her field report, in which she recounts that Colonel Budahas was returned home – albeit in a highly bewildered state – and refuses to confirm Mulder's theory that the colonel may have suffered stress-related trauma as a result of flying aircraft using recovered UFO technology. She does, however, corroborate his account of having seen two UFOs in the sky over Ellens Air Base. She officially closes the case, before picking up the UFO photograph Mulder obtained at "The Flying Saucer" and staring at it. " have been here for a long time.]] While jogging at a local race track, Mulder meets Deep Throat – the secretive man who approached him in the bar. The man warns that the agents' lives may be in danger, because they have seen things that were not meant to be seen. As Mulder starts to talk about what he saw, Deep Throat interrupts with a reminder that he can provide information to Mulder, but only so long as doing so is in his own best interest – namely, in pursuit of the truth. Mulder says he did see something, but it has been taken away from him, erased. Although he neither confirms nor denies whether Mulder saw a military UFO, the man reminds Mulder, through a rhetorical question, that the reason those who believe in the existence of alien life on Earth are not dissuaded by all the evidence to the contrary – like Mulder himself – is that the evidence to the contrary is not entirely dissuasive. Deep Throat starts to walk away but momentarily turns back when Mulder asks if aliens are indeed already on Earth. Deep Throat responds they have been on the planet for an extremely long time. References Roswell; Ellens Air Base; Beach Grove Motel; Erik's Diner Quotes "It'll be flying over Saddam's house, and he'll be all like... 'What? " : - Emil "Mr. Mulder, why are those like yourself, who believe in the existence of extraterrestrial life on Earth, not entirely dissuaded by all the evidence to the contrary?" "Because... all the evidence to the contrary is not entirely dissuasive." : - Deep Throat and Mulder "Mr. Mulder, ''they've been here for a long, long time." : - '''Deep Throat' telling Fox Mulder about Aliens Cast Main Cast *David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder *Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully Guest Starring *Jerry Hardin as Deep Throat *Michael Bryan French as Paul Mossinger *Seth Green as Emil *Gabrielle Rose as Anita Budahas *Monica Parker as Ladonna Co-Starring *Sheila Moore as Verla McLennen *Lalainia Lindbjerg as Zoe *Andrew Johnston as Lt. Colonel Robert Budahas Featuring *Jon Cuthbert as Commanding Officer *Vince Metcalfe as Colonel Kissel *Michael Puttonen as Motel Manager *Brian Furlong as Lead Officer *Doc Harris as Mr. McLennen Uncredited *Charles Cioffi as Section Chief Scott Blevins *Cody Serpa as Josh Budahas *Carrie Classen as Leslie Budahas *Tony Morelli as Man in Black External Links * * * =Episode Navigation= Category:TXF episodes Category:TXF Season 1 episodes Category:Mythology episodes